Former child star Bug Hall broke his silence about choosing poverty — and Catholic extremism — after an arrest for huffing air duster.
Hall, 40, who appeared in the 1994 movie Little Rascals as Alfalfa, spoke to Daily Mail on Wednesday, January 28, about leaving Hollywood behind to move his wife and their five kids to a small area near Arkansas. Hall said that he now identifies as a “radical Catholic extremist” who opted to give up the money he made as an actor for “a vow of poverty.”
“If there’s a financial need that comes up, I’ll go take some work or do an odd job, for cash to fulfill that need,” he explained about donating all of his savings and giving up most of his material items to “maintain a life as free of any need for an income as possible” as part of his religious commitment.
Page Six confirmed that Hall and his family currently live in a campervan with a water well and a generator. He told Daily Mail about plans to go fully off-the-grid by building a home with its own hydro-electrical dam, plumbing and electrical systems.
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Hall and his wife, Jill de Groff, are homeschooling their kids with plans to “strongly discourage them” from attending a mostly “nonsense” school or attending college when they become of age.
The former actor’s younger brother, Gemini Barnett, their mother, Twila, and his stepfather, Mark, have joined Hall in the move to Arkansas, where they recently bought plots of land as well.
Hall also addressed his decision to give up his career after an arrest in 2020 for allegedly huffing air duster cans. He claimed he was taken into police custody in Texas for misdemeanor possession but didn’t face any charges.
After being sober for 15 years before the arrest, the incident became a wakeup call for Hall about not committing to a life of “manipulation, of other people, in how I speak to them, in the stuff that I make or produce … including myself, as an addict.”
Hall’s love for making movies was ultimately traded in. “I didn’t want to go work some job that was basically meaningless, making widgets to entertain people or distract people,” he continued.
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Before retiring from the entertainment industry, he also appeared in Disney Channel’s Get A Clue and scored a Children’s Emmy nomination for A Tale Dark and Grimm — in addition to cowriting This Is the Year.
Hall previously opened up about advising young actors just entering the business.
“I pitched in with some friends before who have classes and I’ll come in and talk to the kids,” he explained in a 2012 interview with YouTuber Deedee Golden. “I don’t really believe in acting classes. I never took any, but I like to talk to the kids while they’re still young about, sort of, what to expect and how to make better choices than some people tend to make.”
News broke in 2020 that Hall was arrested after authorities responded to calls about a possible overdose at a hotel in Texas after a call was made about “someone by the dumpster huffing.”
Hall was taken to Parker County Jail but was released the following day after being held on a $1,500 bond. He received a possession charge for use to inhale or ingest a volatile chemical.
